Viewpoint by Ram Puniyani* NEW DELHI, 7 May 2023 (IDN) — In April 2023, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) decided to make many deletions from school textbooks. Apart from the parts related to Mughal history, the mention of Gujarat violence and the origin of Caste Varna system, what stands deleted is […]
Sri Lanka: The Die is Cast
By Neville de Silva* LONDON, 5 May 2023 (IDN) — Sri Lanka’s stand-in president Ranil Wickremesinghe is no Julius Caesar. But he is ready to cross his own Rubicon as he must. For time is running out fast for him after almost 50 years in politics and slowly nudging his 75th birthday.
The U.S. Has Problems Adjusting Sensibly to a Multipolar World
This article was issued by the CODEPINK and is being republished with the permission. By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK, 4 May 2023 (IDN) — In his 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, historian Paul Kennedy reassured Americans that the decline the United States was facing after […]
Implications of the Fraying of the Liberal International Order for Policy Oriented Research
By Ramesh Thakur* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. CANBERRA, Australia, 4 May 2023 (IDN) — For several years now many analysts have commented on the looming demise of the liberal international order constructed at the end of the Second World War under US leadership.
UNESCO Needs to Rethink Freedom of Expression
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — At a time when the West has weaponised human rights, the United Nations body that promotes freedom of expression need to rethink what it means. Every year UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) mark World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) on May 3 with […]
Bush’s “Mission Accomplished,” 20 Years Later
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA, 2 May 2023 (IDN) — Twenty years ago, President George W. Bush landed in a twin-engine Navy jet on an aircraft carrier, strode across the deck in a bulky flight suit and proceeded to give a televised victory speech under a huge red-white-and-blue banner announcing “Mission Accomplished.”
Are We Going to See a Demographic Peace?
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden, 2 May 2023 (IDN) — Traditionally, old men have sent young men to fight the wars they have started. Today, if we look at the world-wide picture, it may be somewhat different. Old men may be shying away from war while young men are still beholden to it. The number […]
An Occupying Power Cannot Be a Beacon of Democracy
By Alon Ben-Meir* This article was originally published in CNN Arabic [https://arabic.cnn.com/middle-east/article/2023/04/14/israel-democracy-occupation-alon-ben-meir-oped] NEW YORK, 30 April 2023 (IDN) — As Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary, every Israeli should remember that the occupation stains the country’s independence day and that Israel is not and will not be a true democracy as long as it remains an […]
Youths at the Centre of the Multilateral System
By Simone Galimberti* The author is the co-founder of ENGAGE and The Good Leadership. He writes about youths’ involvement in the UN, social development and human rights. KATHMANDU, Nepal, 29 April 2023 (IDN) — Reimagining how the world will be in a few decades from now can be daunting, overwhelming and worrisome at the same […]
The G7 Hiroshima Summit, the Ukraine Crisis and No First Use of Nuclear Weapons
By Daisaku Ikeda The following is the text of the statement by peacebuilder and Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda, who is president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Source: Soka Gakkai. TOKYO, 27 April 2023 (IDN) — The Ukraine crisis, which in addition to bringing devastation to the people of that country has had severe impacts […]